Memphis mom shares story of daughter with special needs being bullied at school

MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- Some Memphis middle-schoolers are in trouble after being accused of bullying a special-needs student and taking it to the Internet. It happened at Geeter Middle School where the victim’s mother is in disbelief.

To keep the family anonymous, we are not going to publish her name.

"She's a very, very, very outgoing child," said the victim's mother. "She likes to sing and dance and she likes to help around. She likes making friends, you know?"

But last Tuesday, she learned her supposed friends were just the opposite.

"She was in the bathroom using the bathroom [when] they got a picture of her squatting while using the bathroom and they got a picture of her face as well."

Students shared the pictures on Facebook and on their phones, making fun of the 14-year-old.

"That's just devastating that they would do that," said the victim's mom. "I just don't understand."

Her daughter has a learning disability and has been bullied in the past.

"It's so serious," she said. "Some kids commit suicide because of things like this. Now, her whole life has been changed."

She said she felt she was left with no other choice and went to the school board on Tuesday to get permission to home-school her daughter before transferring her to a new school.

The Shelby County School District gave WREG a statement that said, "We take all reports of student safety very seriously. As soon as this incident was reported to school staff members, they contacted school security and the authorities so they could investigate. As a result, the students involved have been disciplined according to school policy."

The victim’s mom said she just hopes this can be a lesson to parents and their teens.

"Talk to them and let them know it's not okay; that it hurts," she said. "It hurts. In the end, it hurts the child and it's going to hurt them."

The victim’s mother also went to police for this case. We reached out to them for a comment but did not hear back.